My Heirloom Desk

I know that everyone says that their grandparents are the best, but believe me when I say that my grandparents, Les and Betty, were the BEST grandparents any child could ask for.

Real quick recap on why they were so amazing:

• Gram made me cinnamon toast any time I requested it – and she used a vintage toaster that was her mother’s wedding present, yes it was ancient and yes, I am now the proud owner of that toaster!
• Grandpa always told me the story of Cinderella and her two “step-blisters” – his funny messed up version of Cinderella. He could always make me laugh until my stomach hurt. 
• Gram would sit on the stairs and play bus driver with us for hours. I don’t think she realized how she helped develop my imagination through countless adventures to far off places. She also didn’t complain with my frequent request to take the “bus” to Disneyland.
• Grandpa taught me how to pray before going to sleep. Even now, I pray at night and especially when I can’t fall asleep.
• Dress-up, craft projects, tea parties, golfing, and gardening. They did it all.
• They selflessly shuttled me back and forth from place to place – and Grandpa always had a little ice chest in the back of the car stocked with cold pop for me.
• They were at every band concert, dance performance, and all my graduations. They were undeniably my biggest fans. 

Losing my grandparents was hard. Real hard. (And this last month has been horrible since loosing Grandpa Crawford.) I have selfishly cried to my Mom on more than one occasion that my husband would never get to meet them and my children would never have strawberry blankets (Gram’s signature baby gift) or a hand-crafted bathroom stool made by Grandpa. The Jays were more than just my grandparents, they were my friends.

Long introduction to explain just how excited I am about the newest piece of furniture I own:

My Gram’s sewing table!

I cannot even describe my joy at seeing this beautiful table sitting in my living room. Sometimes I smile so big my face hurts.

Countless hours of my childhood were spent sitting in the entryway of my grandparents’ master bedroom pushing the iron pedal to see just how fast the wheel could spin. Exactly what you should not do with an antique. – Gram never scolded me, she just warned me not to pinch my fingers.

I’ve waited four years for this sweet table to be mine. When my Mom text me to let me know it was in the garage waiting for me to pick it up, I leapt for joy. I could have sworn it was Christmas and not a sweltering hot day in June! I literally jumped up and down and ran around my apartment’s parking lot – much to Houston’s amusement. – Never a dull moment with me around.

I immediately cancelled any thought of hanging things on the wall in my apartment. Things would just have to move and make space for the table – and that was ok with me…even if that meant I lived with bare walls for a few more weeks.

Since I no longer have an office space, I have decided to use this as my desk rather than sitting on the couch with my computer propped up on my knee – not good for the knee, back or neck. It will be my little “nook” of sorts and I knew exactly which photo to place nearby – a photo of Gram and me that was my Grandpa’s favorite (he had it on his big roll-top desk for as long as I can remember).

So I am off to blog, brainstorm and work on some homework at my new desk.

While I am at it, I think I will see how fast I can make the wheel spin.